1908: Delagrange flies 12,878 feet in six minutes, 30 seconds in his Voisin-Delagrange Nº 2 in Paris.

1911: The U.S. Army sets up its first permanent flying school at College Park, Maryland.

1934: Comdr. Renato Donati of the Italian Regia Aeronautica sets a new world altitude record by flying a much modified Caproni Ca. 113 biplane to a height of 47,352 ft. The same aircraft is also used by the Contessa Carina Negrone in 1935 to set a new altitude record for women of 39,402 ft.

1936: Air Canada is founded. Read more...

1958: North American Aviation is issued a preliminary contract to build prototypes of the XF-108 long-range interceptor aircraft for the USAF. Read more...

1960: 1st weather satellite launched (Tiros 1).

1969: SR-71 (954) was lost at Edwards AFB due to a wheel/tire failure on takeoff. It was being tested to determine problems associated with maximum gross weight takeoffs when a tire and wheel exploded, rupturing the left wing fuel tank causing a massive fire. Pilot Bill Skliar and RSO Noel Warner survived.

1970: Apollo 13 - USA Lunar Flyby (April 11-17, 1970) launched. Crew: James A. Lovell, Jr., Fred W. Haise, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. The Apollo 13 mission became one of survival for the astronauts on board. During the translunar coast an explosion destroyed both power and propulsion systems of the Command Service Module. The Lunar Module was used as a lifeboat for the astronauts. Read more...

1983: NASA launches RCA-F.

1984: Challenger astronauts complete 1st in space satellite repair.

1986: Halley's Comet makes closest approach to Earth this trip, 63 M km.

1991: Space Shuttle STS-37, Atlantis 8, lands. Read more...